Dawn's new day.

“What do you mean we can’t get our infiltrators into the city!” Chrysalis picked up and threw an ornamental golden goblet sitting on the arm of her obsidian throne across the room. It hit an unlucky guard who fell over. A different drone immediately replaced it with another, the looted objects were there just for the queen to throw in anger not consume liquid from. “I. Want. Results.” She threw a unique goblet each time and the drone replaced it.

“Apologies my queen, but it seems like the Canterlot hive and the ponies have already set up countermeasures and until we find a way around them we can’t enter the city without potentially revealing ourselves.” The lead infiltrator nervously reported.

Chrysalis fumed, harming her own drones wouldn’t help her as it wasn’t their incompetence slowing her down this time. No, the issue was the new queen cozying up to the head horse leading the Equestrians. She was upset she hadn’t thought of such a cunning plan herself. Perhaps she couldn’t get the solar princess but there was still the Princess of food she could get. “Find any information on that other pony princess in the rumors and keep monitoring the princess of food.”

The lead infiltrator bowed and left to relay his queen’s orders. “At once.”

A minotaur and a goat ran through the streets. They knew they were being hunted. As he ran Ironhammer only now remembered what his grandfather told him ‘never spend money you don’t have’ he never understood the phrase until he couldn’t pay back the buyers who had booked a spot in his auction. No, those bits had gone towards wooing a heifer he had hoped to make his wife.

“Um boss, they’re catching up.” His goat companion bleated out.

“Buck they’re persistent.” Ironhammer pulled a weapon off his back, one that bore his name and slammed it into the ground behind him. The resulting destruction blinded their pursuers just long enough for him and his companion to make an escape.

Tempest Shadow was furious. A few weeks ago she overheard something that just couldn’t have been true. The Gilded twins mentioned that Equestria had the ability to make prosthetic horns.

At first she thought they were wrong or lying but after some careful research she had found out it was true. With enough bits she could simply buy a replacement that allowed for simple levitation and low power spells. Sure they weren’t perfect but it was a horn.

The only question now was how long should she play along with the storm king to earn that small fortune.